Photographer Damián Ayma Zepita's Work Arrives in Mercosur

The Museum of Ethnography and Folklore (MUSEF) presents the legacy of the Bolivian indigenous artist abroad for the first time, with an exhibition in Porto Alegre.

For the first time, the world discovers the life and traditions of the Andean highlands through the in-depth lens of Damián Ayma Zepita, an indigenous Bolivian photographer. His photographic archive, curated by the National Museum of Ethnography and Folklore (MUSEF), shines at the fourteenth Mercosur Biennial in Porto Alegre, Brazil, with images that invite us to rethink Latin American history and identity from the perspective of indigenous peoples.

“With profound national pride and a firm commitment to the visibility of Indigenous voices in contemporary art, the National Museum of Ethnography and Folklore (Musef) announces the participation of Damián Ayma Zepita's photographic archive in the prestigious 14th Mercosur Biennial, taking place in Porto Alegre, Brazil,” the institution, part of the Central Bank Cultural Foundation (FC-BCB), said in a statement.

A set of emblematic photographs from Ayma Zepita's archive, carefully selected by the biennial's curatorial team under the concept "Estalo" (Snap), is currently on display at the historic Usina do Gasômetro, one of the city's main cultural spaces. The exhibition is open Tuesday through Sunday, from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and will remain open until June 1.

Damián Ayma Zepita (1921–1999), a trilingual (Aymara, Quechua, and Spanish) and self-taught photographer, spent more than five decades traveling through rural communities in the Bolivian highlands, capturing patron saint festivals, agricultural rituals, family portraits, Andean landscapes, and everyday life. His lens was more than a record, it was a tool for a living archive and for the visual self-determination of Indigenous peoples. In 2019, his work was recognized as a Memory of the World by UNESCO's MoWLAC.

"This is the first time that a selection of his work has been presented outside of Bolivia within the framework of an international biennial, marking a historic milestone for Bolivian Indigenous photography and positioning the Museum as a benchmark in the rescue and dissemination of decolonizing visual heritage," the museum emphasized.

The presence of Ayma's archive at the biennial responds, according to the Musef, to the growing need to break with the hegemonic narratives of Latin American art and introduce perspectives that not only document, but also challenge, resist, and reconstruct memory from the perspective of indigenous peoples.

The museum emphasized that participation in the biennial is the result of sustained work to preserve, digitize, and disseminate the Ayma Zepita archive, which currently contains more than 18,000 visual records.

LEGACY IN LA PAZ

The public can also visit the exclusive Damián Ayma Zepita room at the Musef in La Paz, where a selection of photographs from his vast visual archive are on display. The museum is open Monday through Sunday, offering a direct experience with one of the most lucid and profound perspectives on 20th-century rural Bolivia.

Additionally, those who wish to take a part of this collective memory home can purchase a special catalog of his work in the Jatha-Musef shop. It includes photographs, analytical texts, and life stories about this itinerant photographer.
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